


Fur-Ever Love

by Huntress79



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes Has Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Loss of Limbs (mentioned), M/M, Nightmares (mentioned), Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Sam Wilson is a Gift, War Veteran Bucky Barnes, War Veteran Clint Barton, War Veteran Sam Wilson, War Veteran Wanda Maximoff, With a tiny pinch of angst, steve and bucky get a dog, therapy dogs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:28:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21975883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress79/pseuds/Huntress79
Summary: As long as Steve can remember, Bucky was in his life – first as his best friend, later as his lover, and very soon, he wants them to be husbands. But first, he gets them a very special aide to help with Bucky’s last service “souvenir” nightmares – in the person of a therapy dog, courtesy of Natasha’s and Clint’s training center / shelter.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes & Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes & Wanda Maximoff, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Sam Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40
Collections: SVBB & MRBB Secret Santa 2019





	Fur-Ever Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LadyAngelique](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAngelique/gifts).



> written for the Spiderman/Marvel Reverse Big Bang Secret Santa and LadyAngelique, based on one of her own prompts. Set in an non-power AU. Enjoy! And sorry that it's not only a bit too late, but also a bit too long!

*********************

Watching Bucky head into the VA building, Steve couldn’t help but sigh. His best-friend-since-childhood-turned-lover was back from the war for almost three years now, and still, he woke up six nights out of seven, his whole body shaking from the onslaught of a nightmare.

Deep down, Steve knew that it just might take more time for Bucky’s brain to shake the past and connect with the present, but the longer it went on, the more worried he grew. He had several long talks with Sam, Bucky’s counselor at the VA, if and how he could help his partner, but so far, the only good advice he got was to give Bucky room. As Sam explained, a lot of veterans get a feeling of being crowded in while having a nightmare.

Right as Steve was about to pull out of the parking lot, he saw Sam approaching the car, holding something. Stopping the car once again, Steve got out and greeted the other man.

“Hey, man, good to see you,” Sam gave back. “Look, I know I wasn’t that much of a help so far, especially about finding ways for you to help Bucky, but I think I have something for you now.” He handed the brochures over, and Steve was a bit surprised to see that they were all about therapy dogs. Sure, Bucky had lost his left arm, thanks to an UID, but Steve couldn’t see how a dog could help him here.

“So…,” Steve began, not really sure how to continue.

“So, these therapy dogs are not for physical therapy,” Sam began, then tapped the side of his head. “They are there to help with the mental aspects of being a veteran.”

“How?”

“From what I have gathered, they are just there for that person, doing their own kind of magic. And to be honest, I believe in that magic. When I came back here after Riley’s death, and my own farewell to arms, I was about the same wreck as Bucky is right now. Until my youngest sister came by for a visit and had her Boxer puppy with her. I’m usually not really a dog person, but that little guy just melted my sorrows away.”

“You still have a dog?”

“Sure do, man.” Sam took his mobile out and scrolled a few moments before turning the display in Steve’s direction, the pic of an adorable Corgi in full-screen mode. “That’s Nina. Got her from a shelter, so she was in quite a similar place than I was. And I think we helped each other, in some way. I made sure she was cared for and loved, and she anchored me when the nightmares threatened to get too strong.”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check this lane out, so to speak?” Steve asked, uncertainty lacing every word..

“Absolutely, and if you want, I can arrange something with another veteran who runs a dog shelter not far from here. Unless one of you has an allergy that relates to dog hair.”

“No, not that I know about. And neither does Bucky. So,” Steve began while opening the car door, “thanks, Sam, for the tip. I’ll let you know if there’s anything I need help with. See you later!”

“Likewise, man,” Sam replied before stepping back a bit and watching Steve pulling out of the parking lot.

*********************

When Steve came back to pick Bucky up almost two hours later, he already had come to a decision. Still, he wanted to talk it through with his partner, and for that, he had everything he needed for a homemade lasagna in the trunk.

Usually, Bucky was kind of subdued after these sessions, still a bit lost in whatever they talked about this time, and barely saying a word at all, not to the other veterans, or the counselors, or his partner. Today, though, Steve found him in one of the corners of the common room, talking softly to Wanda, who not only was a fellow veteran herself, but also had lost both her twin brother and her fiancé on the battlefields.

Not wanting to disturb them in whatever they were talking about, Steve kept himself in the background, watching the people meandering around the room.

“Hey, man,” Sam suddenly said next to him, and try as he might, Steve had to put up a fight not to jump at hearing the voice. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just waiting on Buck.” He motioned over to where his partner still was talking to Wanda. “It’s good for him to have more friends, I guess.”

“Absolutely,” Sam agreed. “I don’t know if Bucky talks about the others in his group,” he saw Steve shake his head no, “but let’s just say that out of them all, Wanda might be the one to get Bucky the most, given her own war-related history.”

Steve gave Sam a quizzical look, but before Sam could say anything else, Bucky more or less materialized himself next to Steve, and Sam was gone in a heartbeat.

“Hey babe,” Bucky said as a greeting, “everything’s okay?”

“Yeah, of course, Sam and I were just talking a bit.”

“About what? Me?”

“No, not at all,” Steve began while they were walking out of the building. “Actually, we were talking about Sam’s own military history.” He gave Bucky a reassuring smile. “And I couldn’t help but notice that you apparently made a new friend in there.”

“You mean Wanda?” Steve nodded. “You’re not jealous of her, Stevie, are you?”

“No, god, no.” Since they were waiting at a traffic light, Steve chanced a look at Bucky. “Should I be jealous?”

That got Bucky laughing so hard that tears were running down his face. Leave it to his punk to ask such questions.

“Of course not, you punk.” He gave Steve’s thigh a slight punch. “In case you haven’t noticed, she has the wrong set-up for me. Besides, she has been through the same as I in terms of losing a limb, you know?”

Steve had to restrain himself from jumping on the break mid-traffic. “What?”

“You didn’t notice her limp, Steve?” Bucky gave back, unperturbed by his lover’s exclamation. “She lost her leg the same way as I did, even.” Steve had no reply for that, so the car was momentarily lulled in silence before Bucky spoke up. “You wanna order in?”

“No, I actually want to make your favorite – lasagna.” Steve threw a thumb over his shoulder. “Already have everything for it in the back.”

“Great,” Bucky said before leaning over the center console and plant a quick smack on Steve’s cheek.

Once they were home, they both dedicated their concentration to making the dish, so Steve, more or less, forgot about having a theoretically talk to Buck about adding a dog to their household or not.

*********************

The next time he picked up Bucky from the VA, Steve arrived earlier on intent. He had a plan that would not only help him getting to know some of the veterans in Bucky’s group, but also to see how his partner would react to a dog in general.

“Hey, Sam, can I ask you something?” Steve said when he spotted the man in the hallway.

“Sure, what gives?”

“Listen, is it okay for you counselors to accept a dinner invitation when it’s in relation to one of the veterans?”

“Steve, are you asking me out? Like on a date?”

“Oh shush, of course not,” Steve replied with a mock-gasp. “No, I just want to get to know the guys and gals in Bucky’s group better, and so I thought I start inviting them to dinner at our home.”

“Well then, consider your invite accepted,” Sam said with a wink. “But why can’t I shake the thought that you have other, ulterior motives to do so?”

“Sam, you wound me,” Steve exclaimed with a hand clutched over his heart. “But you’re right. If it’s not too much trouble, could you bring Nina along? I honestly have no idea how to breach the topic to Bucky, and that way, I could see if he’s even interested in dogs in general.”

“Sure, no problem, I can do that. She’s usually cool with meeting new people, so that shouldn’t be a problem. And I’ll bring something with me where she can pee in, should the need arise.”

“Yeah, but even if she has a little accident, it’s no problem,” Steve reassured him. “I can text you a date, if you want?”

“Okay, but I’m pretty much free in the evenings. Sure, I’m one of the emergency contacts for a lot of veterans, but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy an evening out.” He handed a calling card to Steve. “Whenever it’s good for both of you.”

“Thanks, Sam. By the way, do you have any food allergies I should know about?”

“No, but I can do without any shellfish.”

“Us neither, so that’s off the table anyway.”

With that, Sam was gone again, leaving Steve in the hallway with a smile spread on his face.

*********************

Two weeks later, Steve finally set the plan in motion, and so, at 8 o’clock sharp, Bucky opened the door to their apartment to both Sam and Wanda – and their dogs.

“Hi, Steve,” Wanda said while coming up to him, “I hope you don’t mind that I brought mine along as well.”

“No, not at all,” Steve reassured while taking in the boxer sitting completely still at her feet. “Hey, Buddy, welcome.”

“His name is Pietro, after my late twin brother,” Wanda supplied, and only because they were so close together, Steve noticed the slight hitch in her voice when she said the name of her brother. Bucky was his brother in everything but blood, and more than that, and still, Steve couldn’t even try to imagine what it must have meant for her to lose him in such a violent manner.

Looking up from his perch, Steve saw Bucky in a similar position, with Sam’s Corgi lying on her back in front of him. He wasn’t that expert on dog behavior at all, but even he knew that Nina trusted Bucky without preamble.

Sam gave him a reassuring smile, and in that moment, Steve knew that they would get a puppy for Christmas, which was only three weeks away.

*********************

As promised, Sam set Steve up with the same veteran where he got Nina, and so, not even a week later, Steve pulled into the yard of what once must have been a factory of some sort, given the architectural structures surrounding the yard.

“Hey, you must be Steve,” a redhead suddenly said from the side, her voice muffled through the closed window on the driver’s side. Shaking himself, Steve got out.

“Yeah, I’m Steve. I take it Sam called ahead and explained the situation?”

“I’m Natasha, and yeah, Sam actually did call.” She led him over to what seemed to be the main building of the shelter. “Clint’s in the backyard, trying to find the perfect one.” In the meantime, they were what Steve thought to be the office, if the computer in the corner was anything to count for. “You want some coffee while we wait? Clint takes this step very seriously, so it might take some time.”

“Sure, why not?” Steve answered with a shrug.

“Good. And while we wait for him, do you mind answering some questions we have for everyone wanting to adopt one of our therapy dogs?”

“No, of course not.” Steve sat down on the small couch. “Actually, I would have been appalled if you wouldn’t check me out.” Natasha let out a sound somewhere between a laugh and a snort. “You know what I mean – making sure your dog goes to a good home, and all that jazz.”

“You’re a good guy, Steve – you don’t mind if I call you Steve, right?”

“No, not at all. I think I wouldn’t even react if you would switch to Mr. Rogers, anyway.”

“Good, good.” She handed him a surprisingly dainty cup and saucer. “So, Sam said the dog was for your partner?”

“Yeah,” Steve began while putting the cup down on the small table in front of him, and took his mobile out. “This is Bucky. He’s been to several warzones, and the images he saw there won’t leave him alone, haunting his dreams almost every night.”

“How long is he back home?”

“Close to three years, and I really had hoped that it would get better the longer he’s away from it, but it just won’t stop. Now Sam has told me that he probably won’t get rid of these nightmares completely for the rest of his life, but if one of your dogs can help him just having them here and then, I’ll thank every deity out there every day.”

“It’s hard to watch them suffering and have no way to help them, right?” Natasha said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Sounds like you know a thing or two about it as well.”

“I do, Steve, I do. Clint and I met in my first year in the States, after I left Russia for good. I was barely 18 back then, so I enrolled in a local high school to get a better grip on my new homestead. And there he was, the only pupil in the whole school to not only take notice of me, but also to show me the ropes, of pretty much everything. Long story short, we became lovers. Then the war came, and Clint was injured on the battlefield.”

“Mind if I ask what kind of injury?”

“A bomb blew out both his eardrums, nearly completely destroyed his auditory nerves.”

“So he’s deaf? Sorry, didn’t mean to make it sound so harsh.”

“None taken, Steve. Yeah, he’s deaf, but thanks to my boss supporting us with everything, he has a state-of-the-art hearing aide in both ears these days – and this shelter.”

“Thanks for telling me, Natasha. Bucky lost his left arm when his convoy drove over an UID. He was pinned beneath the car, and had to watch the rest of his unit die, without being able to help them at all. The first time he was home with me, I barely slept at all,…

“…afraid that he would leave, possible for good?” Natasha finished.

“Yeah…”

But Steve didn’t get any further, cause right that moment, a man with sandy hair all but sauntered into the office.

“Hey, Nat,” he pressed a quick kiss to her hair, “and you must be Steve,” he extended a hand to Steve, “I’m Clint, and I think I have found the perfect dog for you. Did Nat interrogate you?”

“I wouldn’t call it an interrogation,” Steve answered with a smile, “we merely exchanged stories about being a helpless partner to a war veteran.”

“Okay,” was all Clint gave back, but Steve noticed his whole body going rigid for a quick moment. “Come on, let me introduce you to your new roommate.” With that, Clint was out of the room again, leaving both Steve and Natasha no other choice than to follow him.

The backyard was separated in several areas by high fences, and in one of them, Clint was waiting, a middle brown dog with curly hair sitting at his feet.

“Okay, Steve, this is my selection,” Clint began.

“You don’t give them names?”

“Of course we do, but most of the time, the new owners rename them anyway,” Natasha answered.

“So what’s this fellow’s name?”

“Little Dude, cause when we got him, he was so tiny, and the guy who brought him in had quite a resemblance to The Dude from ‘The Big Lebowski’,” Clint explained with a shrug while scratching the dog behind his ears.

“I like that name. It’s not your typical name for a dog, and definitely better than Buddy, my standard name for any dog I meet,” Steve gave back. “What’s his breed, by the way?”

“He’s a Standard Poodle breed, and from what our Vet has told us, quite a thoroughbred to boot. Anyway, he’s fully trained on the symptoms of an incoming nightmare, so he should be able to help your partner from the get-go.”

“He also has all his vaccinations up-to-date,” Natasha continued, “and you get a starting kit from a pet shop we work with that should cover the first few days.”

“What’s in the kit?” Steve quizzed, though he had a hunch.

“A dog bed, leash, harness, toys, a dog shampoo, food, plus coupons for later,” Natasha explained. “Plus some reading material that we have put together on what changes you have to make in your daily life to accommodate the dog.”

Christmas Eve came around, and Steve used Sam’s “impromptu” visit to get the dog from Wanda, where he kept him for the past few days. Since his meeting with Clint, Steve had filled out and filed any form he could think of, if only to make sure that no one could take “Little Dude” from them anymore.

By the time he got home again, Sam had taken Bucky on a walk, as Steve read in a SMS from the counselor. Even better, he could hide the dog for a bit and present Bucky with it when he came home. Which happened only 15 minutes later.

“Stevie, you’re home?”

“Yep, in the living room,” Steve called out, and moments later, Bucky was in the doorway, rooted to the spot when he took in everything – the lights on the tree, the Christmas music coming from the stereo, and of course Steve and the dog sitting right in front of the tree.

“Got you a special gift,” Steve said while giving the dog a bit of the leash. Who took the hint and trotted over to Bucky, sniffing at first his feet, then working his way up the legs.

“Hey, Buddy,” Bucky finally got out, emotions thick in his voice. “How did you know?”

“Knew what?” Steve asked while crouching down next to them.

“That I wanted a dog, for quite some time now, but I had no idea how you felt about this in general, so I never brought it up.” In the meantime, Dude had hoisted himself up on Bucky’s knee and began to lick his neck and face. “But when Sam and Wanda brought theirs with them to dinner, and I saw your reaction to them, I thought I might bring it up after the holidays, maybe get you to head over to a shelter and look for one.”

“Believe it or not, that was my reason for asking Sam to bring his along when I invited him to dinner. I had no idea that Wanda also had one, but it was okay, anyway.”

“So, what’s this little dude’s name?” Bucky asked, not noticing the way the dog reacted to the name.

“You just said it,” Steve answered with a smile.

“What? Little Dude?” Bucky exclaimed with a chuckle. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope, according to the guy at the shelter, the dog was so tiny when they got him, and the guy who brought him was a ‘Dude’ look-a-like.” The dog gave a small yelp, vying for their undivided attention. Which they both gave him for the rest of the evening.

*********************

The End

*********************


End file.
